The latter item is especially costly, since most of the life-cycle costs of jet engines are incurred after production, as parts are repeatedly repaired and replaced to keep the engines in a state of high readiness.

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This high level of readiness is perhaps more important at NetJets, which has jets in the air at any time, than at some other companies.

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Years of spending to achieve high rates of readiness are squandered.

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The problem for Malaysia is that the rival parties have been at such a high pitch of combat-readiness for such a long time that the resulting partisanship is poisoning national politics.

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Version 2.0 continues the Gates emphasis on successful high-school completion and college-readiness for disadvantaged young people and adds a parallel thrust toward college completion.

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College-readiness figures like the ones my opponent cites look only at 17-year-old high-school graduates who satisfy minimal entrance requirements for four-year colleges.

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The SAT data mirror scores from the ACT college-entrance exam which showed about 75% of students failed to meet college-readiness standards and served to increase the hand-wringing over whether U.S. high-school students are prepared to attend college and compete in a global economy.

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The defense department traditionally has taken the position that cost is less important than readiness and reliability in determining what sorts of personnel should fill jobs, but with budget deficits beginning to bite the high cost of manning non-combat positions in this manner will undoubtedly become subject to greater scrutiny.

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